True Zionists should welcome Arab participation in Israel’s government - opinion

ByJEREMY M. LEVINOCTOBER 29, 2026 22:53

Israel’s Arab citizens have given our country an extraordinary democratic opportunity. Their turnout in this election should be a source of national pride. Bringing willing Arab partners into government could strengthen our democracy, help repair our society, and change how Israel is seen around the world.

Millions of Israelis went to the polls, including thousands who flew home to vote. Their commitment deserves our respect. After years of war, loss and division, our citizens deserve leaders prepared to use the opportunity they have created.

In these pages on October 12, I argued that politicians who exclude Arab citizens from government because they are Arab hand Israel’s enemies a weapon. The election has made that question immediate. Gadi Eisenkot, Naftali Bennett, Yair Lapid and Yair Golan now face a decision whose consequences extend far beyond the formation of another coalition.

With counting still underway, the reported result gives Netanyahu’s bloc 53 seats, the Zionist opposition 48 and the Arab parties 19. These numbers do not constitute a governing agreement. They demand serious negotiations among those who believe our country needs a different government.

Not welcoming Arab voters would make mockery of equal citizenship

Our Arab fellow citizens sought change through Israel’s democratic institutions. We should welcome their participation and recognize its significance. Celebrating their votes while refusing to consider their representatives as governing partners simply because they are Arab would make a mockery of equal citizenship.

Eisenkot, Bennett, Lapid and Golan: each of you has asked Israelis to trust you with our future. You now have a responsibility to examine every credible path to a government that can defend the country, restore its institutions and serve its citizens. Campaign pledges cannot relieve you of the duty to exercise judgment.

I write as an Israeli who believes in the Jewish state and fears for its future. I respect those who have carried the burden of defending it, including leaders with whom I disagree. I ask them now to challenge the prejudices that prevent us from building a stronger country.

There must be clear obligations for every governing partner. Each must reject terrorism, respect democratic institutions, and undertake to protect Israel and its citizens. Apply those standards equally to Jewish and Arab parties, then negotiate over the differences that remain.

Some differences may prevent agreement. A party’s policies or conduct may make cooperation impossible. But being Arab cannot be a disqualification, and no leader committed to Israel’s founding promise should defend such a position.

In 1948, as our country faced war for its survival, Ben-Gurion proclaimed a Jewish state committed to equal political rights for all its citizens. The Declaration of Independence called on Arab inhabitants to participate in building the state and its institutions. These commitments belong to the core of the Zionist dream.

True Zionists should have the confidence to honor them. A Jewish state in which Arab citizens share responsibility for governing fulfills a promise made at its birth. Excluding them because of their identity betrays it.

Bennett and Lapid have already governed with Ra’am, and Arab ministers have already served Israel. They know cooperation is possible and understand its difficulties. The task now is to build an agreement in which willing Arab partners exercise meaningful authority and accept the responsibilities that accompany it.

Arab leaders must also be prepared to compromise. Those seeking a place in government must help develop a workable program and accept responsibility for difficult decisions. They cannot expect their partners to take political risks while declining to take any themselves.

The international consequences could be profound. Palestinian citizens of Israel already elect representatives to our parliament in competitive national elections. Seeing those representatives exercise authority in the government of the Jewish state would provide a powerful answer to those who insist that Zionism necessarily means racial exclusion.

A cabinet in which Jewish and Arab ministers govern together would confront that claim with an uncomfortable reality. These would be Arab citizens making decisions, directing ministries and sharing responsibility for Israel’s future. Their authority would come from the same democratic process as that of their Jewish colleagues.

That would directly challenge the allegation that Israel’s Jewish identity makes equal political participation impossible. It would not resolve the conflict in the West Bank and Gaza or settle accusations concerning Israeli rule there. Those questions require decisions of their own, and our argument gains strength when we are precise about what shared government would demonstrate.

Netanyahu, extremists does not get to define Zionism

Netanyahu and his extremist partners have repeatedly weakened that argument through rhetoric that treats Arab political participation as a threat. When they suggest that a government supported by Arab votes lacks legitimacy, they give substance to the very charge of exclusion that Israel’s defenders are asked to rebut.

They do not get to define Zionism for the rest of us. Their insistence on distinguishing between the legitimacy of Jewish and Arab votes violates the equality promised at Israel’s founding. We should reject that rhetoric openly and build a government that gives practical effect to our principles.

The first test would be what that government delivers. Organized crime terrorizes Arab communities and weakens the state. Housing, education, public services and confidence in the police demand sustained attention. Jewish and Arab ministers who tackle these problems together would begin repairing the relationship between citizens and their government.

This could be the fastest credible way to begin restoring Israel’s standing after years in which the current government has deepened our divisions and damaged trust in our institutions. A new coalition alone will not repair that damage. A government that shares authority and addresses neglected social problems would show that the country has begun to change.

It would be the political equivalent of pressing Control-Alt-Delete on a system that has become stuck. The problems would remain, but we would have a chance to make government function again, with different partners and a renewed commitment to the citizens it serves.

Such a government could also improve the conditions for diplomacy with Saudi Arabia. Riyadh’s demands concerning Palestinian statehood would remain, and Arab participation in our cabinet could not substitute for addressing them. Yet a government prepared to build trust with Arab partners at home could bring greater credibility to negotiations abroad.

For Israelis, and for Jews defending Israel around the world, this would be a change worth fighting for. We could point to a Jewish state whose Arab citizens help govern it, with shared obligations and real authority. Our answer to those who deny the possibility of such a state would be visible in the government itself.

Eisenkot and his colleagues should begin serious negotiations now. Establish common obligations, test where agreement is possible and bring willing Arab partners into government. Our voters have created an opportunity to renew Israel’s founding promise. Those who claim to defend that promise must now act on it.

Jeremy M. Levin is an Israeli-American physician-scientist and biotechnology executive, an elected member of the American Zionist Movement and a participant in the most recent World Zionist Congress. He is a former CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and former chairman of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization.

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